Softball Picks Up Big Win Over Elizabethtown

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- Juniata softball jumped out to a 7-0 lead against Elizabethtown and held off a Blue Jay rally as the Eagles won 7-4 in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at West End Field. The victory was the first for JC over E-Town since 2009 and ended an 11-game Blue Jay winning streak over the Eagles.

Paige Dennison (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs) led off for Juniata with a double.  Kerigan Ammerman (Alexandria, Pa./Alexandria) singled to score Dennison. Holly Bettinger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) followed with a homerun to center field as the Eagles led 3-0 after the first inning of play.

The Eagles added to their lead in the second inning. Sarah Sotelo (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI Catholic HS) singled to left field to lead off. Alicia Regnault (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater Raritan) and Brooke Walls (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) followed with back-to-back singles to center to load the bases. Dennison singled to score Regnault and forced the Blue Jays to go to their bullpen early. Allie Baney (State College, Pa./State College Area HS) reached on an error to score Walls. Ammerman then grounded out to bring Dennison in. Bettinger came up and singled to right center to bring home Baney and the JC lead increased to 7-0.

E-Town got one run back in the third inning. The Blue Jays plated three runs in the fifth inning to cut the JC lead to 7-4 with no outs recorded. Starting pitcher Sotelo allowed a walk but got help from her defense with a lineout into a double play and then a pop out to end the inning. She gave up just an extra base hit in the seventh inning as she shut the Blue Jays down the rest of the game.

Sotelo went seven innings and gave up six hits, four runs (two earned) ,and walked six. She struck out four batters.

Bettinger finished 2-for-3 with one run scored and three runs batted in. Dennison was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, and one run batted in.

The first game went Elizabethtown's way 8-2. The Eagles were held to just three hits and did not record their first until the fourth inning. Bettinger scored Juniata's first run on an error by the Elizabethtown second baseman. She accounted for the Eagles' only other run on a line drive homer to centerfield in the bottom of the sixth.

Chrisi Lerchen (Annville, Pa./Annville-Cleona) took the loss on the mound for Juniata. She surrendered 13 hits, eight runs (seven earned), three walks, and also struck out three Blue Jays.

The Eagles (11-13, 2-4 Landmark) travel to Carlisle to play Dickinson on Tuesday. First pitch will be at 5:00 pm with the second game beginning around 7:00 p.m.